Gina Prince-Bythewood

Love & Basketball

Love & Basketball

Sparks fly both on and off the court in this groundbreaking feature debut by writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Old Guard), which elevated the coming-of-age romance by giving honest expression to the challenges female athletes face in a world that doesn’t see them as equal. Sanaa Lathan (Alien vs. Predator) and Omar Epps (Higher Learning) make for one of the most iconic screen couples of the 2000s as the basketball-obsessed next-door neighbors who find love over flirtatious pickup games, fall apart under the strain of high-pressure college hoops and families, and drift in and out of each other’s lives as they pursue their twin aspirations of playing professionally. Aided by stellar supporting performances and an eclectic R&B soundtrack, Love & Basketball captures the intoxicating passions, heartbreaking setbacks, and sky-high ambitions that mark a young woman’s journey to the top of her game and to lasting love.

Film Info

  • United States
  • 2000
  • 125 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.85:1
  • English
  • Spine #1097

Director-Approved Blu-ray Special Edition Features

  • New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director Gina Prince-Bythewood, featuring additional footage cut from the original release and 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
  • Two audio commentaries from 2000: one featuring Prince-Bythewood and actor Sanaa Lathan and the other featuring Prince-Bythewood, editor Terilyn A. Shropshire, and composer Terence Blanchard
  • New making-of documentary featuring Prince-Bythewood, Lathan, actors Omar Epps and Alfre Woodard, producer and writer Reggie Rock Bythewood, and basketball adviser Colleen Matsuhara
  • Editing “Love & Basketball,” a new program featuring Prince-Bythewood and Shropshire
  • New conversation among Prince-Bythewood, WNBA legend and Hall of Famer Sheryl Swoopes, and writer-producer-actor Lena Waithe
  • Deleted scenes with optional audio commentary by Prince-Bythewood and Shropshire
  • Audition tape excerpts
  • Two short films by Prince-Bythewood: her UCLA thesis film, Stitches (1991), and Progress (1997), with a new introduction by the director
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by author Roxane Gay

New cover based on an original theatrical poster

Purchase Options

Collector's Sets

Collector's Set

CC40

CC40

Blu-ray Box Set

49 Discs

$639.96

Director-Approved Blu-ray Special Edition Features

  • New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director Gina Prince-Bythewood, featuring additional footage cut from the original release and 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
  • Two audio commentaries from 2000: one featuring Prince-Bythewood and actor Sanaa Lathan and the other featuring Prince-Bythewood, editor Terilyn A. Shropshire, and composer Terence Blanchard
  • New making-of documentary featuring Prince-Bythewood, Lathan, actors Omar Epps and Alfre Woodard, producer and writer Reggie Rock Bythewood, and basketball adviser Colleen Matsuhara
  • Editing “Love & Basketball,” a new program featuring Prince-Bythewood and Shropshire
  • New conversation among Prince-Bythewood, WNBA legend and Hall of Famer Sheryl Swoopes, and writer-producer-actor Lena Waithe
  • Deleted scenes with optional audio commentary by Prince-Bythewood and Shropshire
  • Audition tape excerpts
  • Two short films by Prince-Bythewood: her UCLA thesis film, Stitches (1991), and Progress (1997), with a new introduction by the director
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by author Roxane Gay

New cover based on an original theatrical poster

Love & Basketball
Cast
Omar Epps
Quincy McCall
Sanaa Lathan
Monica Wright
Alfre Woodard
Camille Wright
Dennis Haysbert
Zeke McCall
Debbi Morgan
Nona McCall
Harry J. Lennix
Nathan Wright
Kyla Pratt
Young Monica
Glenndon Chatman
Young Quincy
Christine Dunford
Coach Davis
Erika Ringor
Sidra O’Neal
Regina Hall
Lena Wright
Gabrielle Union
Shawnee
Colleen Matsuhara
UCLA coach
Tyra Banks
Kyra Kessler
Credits
Director
Gina Prince-Bythewood
Written by
Gina Prince-Bythewood
Produced by
Spike Lee
Sam Kitt
Executive producers
Andrew Z. Davis
Jay Stern
Cynthia Guidry
Director of photography
Reynaldo Villalobos
Production designer
Jeff Howard
Editor
Terilyn A. Shropshire
Casting
Aisha Coley
Music
Terence Blanchard
Music supervision
Melodee Sutton
Costume designer
Ruth E. Carter
Sound mixer
Willie Burton
Art director
Susan K. Chan
Set designer
Ron Wilkinson
Key makeup artist
Anita Gibson
Key hairstylists
Joann Stafford-Chaney
Sterfon Demings
Script supervisor
Martin Kitrosser
Basketball advisers
Dick Baker
Colleen Matsuhara
Steve Spencer
Hi-8 footage
Reggie Rock Bythewood

Current

Love & Basketball: For Your Heart
Love & Basketball: For Your Heart

Gina Prince-Bythewood’s iconic debut portrays Black love without forcing its heroine to compromise herself and her ambitions.

By Roxane Gay

Andrew Bujalski’s Top 10
Andrew Bujalski’s Top 10

The writer-director of Computer Chess and Support the Girls lets his eye and heart wander freely through our collection, and gives us a list of some films he admires.


Beyond Visible: Gina Prince-Bythewood on the Necessity of Black Women’s Cinema
Beyond Visible: Gina Prince-Bythewood on the Necessity of Black Women’s Cinema

The director of Love & Basketball reflects on more than twenty years of bringing the underrepresented stories of her community to the big and small screen.

By Rebecca Carroll